Competitor's Best
by a writer's puppet
Summary: In the world of marching band, Beca Mitchell only knew the pit life. Who knew all it took was forgetting a jacket to become immersed in the world of Chloe Beale? Suddenly, Beca's walls are torn down and she doesn't know how or why. With the biggest competition of her life dawning closer and closer, she has to finally learn how to deal with real life.
1. Background Info!

Hi! So, this will be a multi-chapter story! This story takes place in high school. The plot revolves around the school's marching band, in which you'll see many familiar names and faces! However, I understand that marching band terminology is not common knowledge, so this is just a big debrief in case you guys need any help! These are the things that will be covered in this story:

 **Pit/Front Ensemble:** this is the section of the band that doesn't march. They are always front and center. This section consists of not-marching percussion, which means keyboard instruments and various other percussion (basically the rhythm section)

 **Marimba:** this is a large, wooden keyboard instrument. it often serves as the highest tier in the pit. it also often plays the most complex parts of the pit music.

 **Vibraphone:** this is a smaller, metal instrument. it has a pedal, so it often serves as the 'chord' instrument, and the melody.

 **Glockenspiel:** this is the 'bell set', the smallest pitched percussion instrument. it is metal but has a much harsher tone than the vibraphone.

 **Xylophone:** it is also wooden, but like the glockenspiel, has a harsher sound to it.

 **Colorguard:** this is the section of the band that people know as "the flag twirlers". they spin flags and basically just look super badass. as well as flags, they spin sabres and rifles, both (from what I've heard from the guard) equal in difficulty, it's just a preference thing

 **Captain:** the section leader. In this story, Beca Mitchell is the pit captain. Chloe Beale and Aubrey Posen are co-captains of the colorguard.

 **Drum Major:** this is the student(s) that stand in front of the band on the podium and conducts the band as they play. they are the leader of the band, and gives orders and instructions.

 **Band Director:** this is the teacher of the band. they provide the music and teach it

 **Battery:** this is the drumline, which consists of the snare drums, tenor drums, and bass drums

Those are the most important parts! Hope you guys are here to stay! Welcome to the world of marching band.


	2. Chapter 1

The field was wet and a very small sprinkle had started to fall upon the awaiting members of the band that was already present. Beca Mitchell gazed at the droplets that began made their arrival known on the pavement and gave a soft smile that quickly fell as she looked at her instrument.

"Well, shit," a brunette boy complained from beside her. "This is going to make our hellish trip out to the field even worse."

"Get it together, Jesse," Beca replied unsympathetically. "This is the pit life."

The two looked at each other and sighed and began pushing their instruments, both black marimbas, out towards the gate entrance that led to the field the marching band practiced on.

"I can't believe she _knew_ it was going to rain but didn't cancel practice." Jesse grumbled. Beca laughed shortly. "As if she'd ever cancel practice, dude. I'm pretty sure we'd practice in the snow if it ever did."

"Hurry up guys!" a voice behind them called urgently. "They're setting up tents for us but we need to be set up in at least 10 minutes!"

Beca looked behind her and saw another one of her section members pushing her synth cart out. "You got it, CR." she replied, and quickened her pace.

It was all fun and games until they reached the grass. Due to all the recent rainfall that had graced them, the grass was growing much more thickly than before. This made it much harder to push their instruments out to the field. After a 5 minute trek to join the band, the front ensemble quickly set up their electronics under the tents and took their place behind their instruments. They looked up at their drum major, a tall girl named Jane, and awaited instructions.

"Okay guys," boomed their band director's voice through the speakers of the pit. "I want to run set 17, taking three sets from there."

Upon seeing the slightly confused faces of her section members, Beca reiterated: "Starting from the drum break, stopping at measure 86." She got a nod of acknowledgement from the rest of her section and grabbed four mallets in between her hands. She looked up and watched Jane intently, watching her drum major count them off. The drum break started with a snare feature that flowed into a pit feature before the drumline and pit came together to create a melodious groove. She could hear the drummers behind her dutting to the beat and forced back a smile; they were the best percussion section California had to offer, even beating out the esteemed Chino Hills High School last year.

The drum break ended and the hornline reentered the song for a single note before they reached the end of their set and all sound ceased. The microphone the band director, Mrs. Hill, was using crackled as she turned it back on, and she sounded pleased.

"Good job, guys." she complimented. "Guard, I'm sorry about the mud, but please try to work around it. Those flags need to be more in sync."

Beca heard murmurs of assent, and Mrs. Hill nodded her approval.

"Reset, we're running that again."

* * *

An hour into their rehearsal, the rain had started falling more heavily than before. Many people were noticeably shivering, but Mrs. Hill was determined to work through it.

Beca, who had forgotten a jacket, was soaked to the bone but unwilling to waver. She was the section leader, she had to lead by example. The pit didn't complain. They couldn't, otherwise the band would sneer at them for being 'weak' despite not marching.

"Okay guys, take a break." Mrs. Hill finally relented, and the band let out a collective sigh of relief before carefully sprinting with their instruments to the trees for some coverage from the rain. Beca took her time, not wanting to seem too desperate for shelter, and found herself at the edge of the trees.

"You look cold!" she heard a voice behind her, and then a tap on the shoulder. She turned to see who it was that was talking to her, and found the colorguard captain staring at her with expectant eyes. _Incredibly_ blue eyes, looking right into hers.

' _Wow'_ is all Beca could think. Of course, she knew who the colorguard captain was. Chloe Beale. The most popular girl in the marching band, which was impressive considering they were massive.

"Uh-yeah. I forgot my jacket today," Beca replied nervously. She could hardly speak. In her marching band world, the pit was at the bottom of the food chain, and the guard peaked the list. She never talked to the guard but admired them from far away.

"Do you want to use mine?" Chloe asked, concernedly. She held out a navy blue hoodie towards Beca.

"Dude, no, it's fine. I don't want you to get sick."

"Don't be silly! This is my extra, I brought out two specifically for this reason." Chloe winked at her. "There's always that _one_ person who somehow forgets a jacket in the cold."

Beca felt a blush creep up her cheeks but gratefully accepted the hoodie.

"Thank you, Chloe."

The redheaded girl beamed at her and nodded before saying, "You should go change. We can't have our badass center marimba getting sick!" Beca felt herself grinning, thankful that the rain clouds covered the sun, making it harder for her blush to be so apparent. She nodded and made her way over to the bathrooms.

Teeth chattering, she burst into the large stall at the end of the bathroom and hurriedly took her drenched shirt off. She dried herself the best she could before pulling the hoodie over herself, taking a moment to breathe in how good it smelled and feeling immediate comfort. She heard a distant whistle outside and ran out the stall and back into the rain.

This was gonna be a long practice.

* * *

By the time practice was over, the rain had stopped.

' _Typical California weather,'_ Beca mused. ' _Incredibly rainy one second, totally dry the next.'_

"Good job today, everybody." Mrs. Hill said from her perch on the podium. The drum major, Jane, also nodded her approval. "We'll start again first thing Monday. Now go home and rest!"

"Don't forget to warm up, and next time be prepared for weather like this," Jane said. She could tell her band was getting restless, and decided to finally dismiss them.

"Band, ten hut!"

Beca straightened her posture and put her feet together, clasping her left wrist with her right hand, looking straight up towards her band major. Behind her, she could hear the band doing the same thing, with their 'tss' as they set at attention.

With a look of finality, Jane smiled. "You're dismissed."

No one moved until Beca heard the horn sergeant count to four, and relaxed her posture.

"Pit, good job today!" she said to her section. "We're gonna have a hell of a time taking our instruments back to the band room. No one leaves until everyone is situated and back, okay?"

She got nods of approval and began unplugging her instrument from the electronics. She was about to set off across the field when she got tapped on the shoulder. She turned around and was again face to face with the incredible blue eyes of Chloe Beale.

"Do you guys need any help?" the redhead asked cheerfully. "We don't have heavy equipment like you guys, so we'd be glad to help."

Beca looked past Chloe and saw the entire colorguard standing behind their captain with tired expressions.

"It's okay, you guys do a lot of work out there on the field," Beca replied. "I'm sure you guys will want to go home as soon as possible."

Chloe insisted that it was no problem, and eventually Beca relented, having the guard help out the electronics.

"The soundboard is the biggest issue," Beca said. "It's super heavy, so be careful. The grass is killer."

Chloe nodded happily, and assigned each guard girl to help who they could. With the guard helping them, they only had to take one trip back to the band room, and they were all settled inside only 15 minutes after rehearsal had ended, the quickest it had ever been.

"Thank you, so much." Beca told Chloe, watching the pit whoop on their way out the door.

"It was no problem, Beca!" Chloe replied, a smile on her face. But really, when was there _not_ a smile on this girl's face?

"I'll return this to you tomorrow," Beca said, gesturing to the hoodie. "Seriously, thank you for letting me use it. You don't even know me…." she trailed off. She smiled nervously at the girl. "But it means a lot."

"Of course!" Chloe assured. "Don't worry, Beca, even if I don't know you…" she leaned in closer, and Beca felt butterflies erupt in her stomach at the sudden proximity. "I have a feeling we'll be fast friends."

She straightened up and bounced on her feet. "Well, I'd better get going! Do you have a ride home?"

Beca gave her a soft smile. "Yes, I do. Thank you again."

Chloe simply gave her a brief hug before prancing out the door. Beca stood, frozen at the sudden contact, and eventually relaxed her face into a blissful smile.

"What have I gotten myself into?"


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! In this chapter, we will meet the pit some more in depth! Are you excited to see which Bellas are in the pit? I think it's kind of obvious looking at each Bella, but we'll see!**

 **If you can, please leave a review; those things make me smile when I read them for other people's fics, so I can't even imagine how happy they'd make me on my own! Thanks for reading!**

* * *

Beca woke up the next morning cold, tired, and in her mind? Dying. She groaned as she fumbled to turn her alarm clock off, but paused for a moment as a coughing fit interrupted her. She managed to turn it off before she collapsed back in her bed, contemplating if she should go to school.

Ultimately, she dragged herself out. She had a test today, and she refused to missed it - Beca prided herself on her immaculate grades. Her head pounded and her mouth was dry, and she coughed again as she dragged herself to the bathroom.

She reached for the medicine cabinet and opened her bottle of painkillers, taking two before readying herself for school. She dressed herself casually - if she had to sit through a whole day of school feeling like this, it had better be comfortably. She pulled on a pair of dark grey joggers and a baseball tee with navy blue sleeves that had "BARDEN HIGH SCHOOL" printed on its front. She pulled her hair up into a bun and looked at her tired eyes through her reflection in the mirror. She sighed and decided to not wear makeup today. Might as well support the dead feeling she had with the dead look, right?

Beca made her way downstairs and was greeted by her mother.

"Hey hon," her mom, Olivia, said. She looked up from her book and took in her daughter. "You look like death." she commented, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Thanks, mom." Beca replied sarcastically. Her voice was hoarse and it made her sore throat apparent.

"Do you need to stay home? I feel like you should rest," Olivia said concernedly.

"I have a test today. No can do."

"Beca, you can skip a test sometimes you know." Olivia stood from her seat at the counter and stepped towards her daughter. "If you need to stay home, I'll call in for you."

"It's fine, mom. Thank you though." Beca smiled at her mother endearingly. Olivia sighed. "Well, if you're sure, at least have some breakfast. I made you some pancakes!"

At this, Beca's eyes lit up. "Oh heck yes! Thank you!" She raced towards the kitchen with her mother following closely, laughing at her antics.

The two chatted at the dining room table as Beca ate, until it was time for her to depart for school.

"Bye, mom." she said on her way out the door.

"Be safe!" her mother called back. Beca smiled, but that was wiped off her face as she coughed again.

' _Today is going to suck.'_

As she made her way to her car, she remembered, ' _Oh shit! Chloe's jacket!'_

She threw her backpack into the passenger seat of her car before racing back into her house and up the stairs. She heard her mother briefly call "Is there a fire?" before bursting into her room and grabbing the jacket from its perch on her chair. She regretted going so fast, as she could feel her breakfast lurch in her stomach. She took a moment to compose herself, hands on her knees as she coughed. When her breathing had controlled itself, she made her way back down the stairs.

"Sorry, I left this up there. I have to return it to...uh, someone."

Olivia quirked an eyebrow at her daughter before nodding and gesturing out the door. "You don't wanna be late! Have a good day, sweetie!" Beca ran out the door and into her car. Suddenly, the prospect of going to school didn't seem so bad.

* * *

As Beca parked, grateful that she had gotten her favorite parking spot once again, she heard a knock on her window. Looking up, she saw Jesse's face pressed up against it and rolled her eyes. She lowered her window.

"What's up, nerd?"

"Becaaaa, you look like shit dude! Are you okay?"

"Yes. Thank you, Jesse, for pumping up my self esteem this early in the day." Beca said sarcastically. "But yeah, I'm good. Just sick from last night's practice."

Jesse groaned. "Dude, I swear Mrs. Hill wants to kill us. She doesn't even want a band, she wants the zombie apocalypse."

Beca smirked. "I don't think that's how it works, dude, but I'll let you believe that." she rolled up her window and opened the car door without waiting for Jesse to get out of the way. She heard an _oomph_ from the boy before she leaned over and grabbed her backpack from the passenger seat and stepped out of the car. She locked it and closed her door, before smirking at Jesse, who was rubbing his arm with a kicked puppy expression on his face. They made their way to the entrance of the school, where they had their first class together.

"I can't wait to get this test over with," Jesse chirped. "Then I can relax for the rest of the day."

"I might go home after this," Beca said. "I seriously don't feel good." They stopped by Beca's locker to get her book from it. Jesse leaned on the lockers next to hers.

"Honestly, you should. Any reason to not be here is a good reason to leave!"

"I swear you are five years old, Jess." Beca smirked. She grabbed her book and shut her locker. As they made their way down the hall, they conversed about the band and the football game they had tonight. The band played at halftime, and Beca was dreading it. She hoped she felt better than she did right now by the time the football game came around, because she was in no mood to play. Her head was turned towards Jesse to make a sarcastic remark at something he had said when she felt herself collide with another body. The book she was carrying fell to the floor, as did she.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry!" she heard a voice say from above her. Her head pounded, from hitting the floor or the headache from this morning, she had no idea. She opened her eyes and groaned, and was met with the worried face of Chloe Beale. She instinctively felt herself begin to blush as she rushed to sit up. She moved too fast, however, and began getting nauseous. She took a moment before smiling weakly.

"It's okay. I should have watched where I was going."

Chloe offered her a hand and she took it, seeing Jesse's concerned face (but she could tell he was trying not to laugh) and feeling embarrassed.

"Seriously, I'm fine. Thank you."

Beca leaned down to pick up her book, before she remembered.

"Oh, it's actually good that you ran into me. Literally." from her words sparked a sheepish look from Chloe, which made her laugh. "Beale, it's okay. Stop looking sorry."

Chloe smiled. "Okay."

Beca reached into her backpack and took out the navy blue hoodie that she had haphazardly shoved in and handed it to Chloe. "Thanks again for letting me use your jacket. I'd probably be a lot worse off right now if I hadn't had it."

With those words, Chloe took a closer look at her. "Beca! Are you okay? Do you need medicine?"

Beca usually would have been annoyed with anyone who shoved their way into her business, but Chloe was different. "It's fine, I took ibuprofen this morning." The worried look on Chloe's face didn't ease off.

"If you need anything, come find me! I'm like the student nurse of Barden!" she gave Beca a cheeky smile, who opened her mouth to reply, but the bell rang. "Well, I can't be late! My teacher will kill me if I'm late again this semester. See you guys later!" Chloe's voice rang melodically as she walked away. Beca stared after her retreating form for a few seconds before a shove on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Dude! What was that?"

"What was what?" Beca retorted. Jesse looked at her incredulously and looked like he was about to say something, but Beca walked away.

"Come on, loser, we're gonna be late."

Jesse rolled his eyes but followed the small girl.

* * *

Beca was pretty sure she had aced her test. A test on Hamlet? Easy. Shakespeare had nothing on her. After her AP Literature test, she had French. As she sat through a grueling and boring lecture, she almost dozed off, but had another coughing fit that kept her awake. When the bell finally rang for lunch, she yawned and stretched before gathering her things.

Lunch was her favorite part of the day - not only because of food (because, I mean, fooooood!) but because she always had it with most of her pit. She loved those nerds, though she would never explicitly say it out loud. However, as a senior this year, she felt much more sentimental about them. They were all going to graduate together, and who knew where the wind would take them?

Beca met her pit in front of the school theater, where they often ate on the bench tables sitting outside of it. She was the first one there, but heard the guffaw of her friend Fat Amy and looked up from her seat. She smiled as she saw them approach in their group.

"What's up guys?" she called as they all filed in their seats.

"We were just deciding whether or not we should go off campus today or not!" CR replied as she took her seat besides Beca. "But we decided not to once we saw you. We were laughing because I said you looked like a skeleton, but Amy said that was nothing new."

Beca rolled her eyes as she looked at the pit seated around her. To her left was CR, and to her right was Jesse, who insisted on sitting next to his captain as her 'right hand man'. Across from her sat Lily and Fat Amy, who somehow understood everything that came out of the small Asian's lips when she spoke. To the seats on the left side of the table sat Denise, and across from her a shy boy named Benji.

Beca relaxed around the presence of her friends. These were the moments she felt the most comfortable; around the kids who she knew the most. Conversation flowed easily around the table, and Beca spent most of her time listening and laughing a couple times. She stopped a couple times to cough.

With about 20 minutes left of lunch, she heard a voice to her right say, "Hey, can I sit here?" and Jesse's reply, "Oh, uh..sure!"

She felt her friend stand and move and turned her head to see a flurry of red hair bounce across their owner's face and held back a smile.

"Becs!" (Beca internally swooned at the nickname) "I got you some cough drops!" and there they were - the medicine drops wrapped in white paper dropped in front of her. Upon further inspection, Beca discovered they were cherry - her favorite, and the only kind she would actually eat.

"Chloe, what the heck?" Beca looked at the overexcited guard girl. "You didn't have to do this."

"Of course I did, silly!" Chloe laughed. "You're sick and you're my friend, so _obviously_ I did the friend thing and brought you something to help."

"Hey, I'm flatbutt's friend and I still wouldn't do that," interjected Amy from across the table. She was met with murmurs of agreement as they all smirked at their captain. Beca rolled her eyes. "I always knew I could count on you, thanks buddy." She turned to look at Chloe again.

"Thank you." she said again, sincerely this time. "I really appreciate it. My throat has been killing me."

"Having too much fun, Beca?" Amy interrupted again, winking in a very obvious way. Beca threw her lanyard with her keys at the Australian and scoffed. Chloe's melodic laugh snapped her out of whatever annoyed state of mind she was just in and she smiled.

"Well, we _have_ to have our pit captain healthy and ready for tonight's performance, obviously!"

"Are you guys ready?" Beca asked curiously.

"Of course! I'm determined to get first place in our category this season. And if not, there's always winter!" Chloe's eyes blazed with determination.  
"I'm sure you guys will do it, Chloe." Beca replied sincerely. "I think this'll be a good season for us. It's time to finally wipe the floor with Ayala and James Logan and _kick their ass_!"

Chloe laughed. "Wow, you're really serious about this stuff, Becs! I wouldn't have thought that from seeing you from afar."

"What does that mean?" Beca asked haughtily. "Dude, band is my life. Well, I guess music is. But that falls in the same category."

"Because you're an angry raccoon, Beca." Amy said, and suddenly Beca was brought back to reality, forgetting that her pit had been sitting across the table listening.

Chloe laughed at the Australian again before standing. "Well, I completed my mission. Aubrey and Stacie are waiting for me, we have to go finish a lab write-up in the library before lunch is over. It was nice talking to you all!" She threw a wink in Beca's direction. "See you guys at the football game!"

Jesse reclaimed his spot as Chloe walked away. He smirked knowingly at Beca, who popped a cough drop in her mouth and tried to discreetly watch Chloe walk away - however, it was obvious.

"Dude, you've got it bad."  
"Shut up, Jesse."

* * *

 **Sammijc: Thank you! I'm a total marching band nerd myself, and so this kind of fic has been on the edge of my mind for _forever_! I decided that instead of waiting for one to appear, maybe I should try my hand at it myself! Just a forewarning though: marching terms, I might get wrong. I didn't march, I was in the pit! I only know guard terms so well because almost all of my friends are in the guard. Hopefully I get them correct though! **


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I'm sorry to say, but don't get too used to these rapid fire updates! Testing season has just begun at my college and I'm in the midst of dying. However, I'll be trying my best to get these chapters flowing as much as I can. Thank you for reading, beautiful people!**

* * *

The day ended sooner than Beca anticipated it to. The cough drops had helped her fits immensely, which also helped soothe her sore throat. She took another ibuprofen pill as she could feel the effects of the two she took in the morning wear off.

The bell releasing the students rang, and she stretched her arms above her head before heading to the band room. Since they had a performance that night, it was their job to load the trailers to ensure the instruments made it to the stadium. Their school, being fairly new, had no stadium of their own - so they went across town to a rival school's.

Beca rubbed her shoulder as she contemplated napping before her call time, but decided against it. Knowing her, she'd oversleep. Approaching the band room, she saw the trailer door already on the floor, serving as a ramp and entered the room. She saw her pit dismantling their instruments - the cymbals were taken off their arm and placed carefully in their case. She did the same for her marimba - fondly named Aleksandr - and pushed it outside.

"Pit," she called. They looked up at her to signal that she had their attention. "Marimbas first, then vibes. After vibes, make sure the soundboard goes in on top of the wheels so that the trailer isn't overbalanced on one side. After soundboard, synth carts and the racks." She got a nod from a majority, as well as a "You got it cap'n" from Amy, and began pushing her marimba onto the ramp.

Beca situated it safely in the very back of the trailer and strapped it in, taking off her mallet bag in the process and zipping it up safely. She took it with her to ensure no broken mallets by the time it was time to perform. She stepped off the trailer and saw the guard hauling their flag bags into the other trailer - the one meant for uniforms and drumline instruments.

A certain redhead caught her eye and she stifled a smile. Chloe was standing with the guard and beaming at them. Beca overheard her say, "We're gonna knock some socks off tonight, right ladies?" And then clear blue eyes met her own. Beca jumped and averted her eyes quickly, shoving her hands in her pockets as she looked desperately for something to do to avoid the blush that quickly spread over her cheeks.

Before she could fathom what was going on, her wrists were grabbed by a pair of surprisingly strong hands and a bright smile.

"Hey! Are you doing anything after school?"

Beca struggled to compose herself before mustering out a reply: "I'm-uh, I'm going home. To. Um. Rest. Yeah."

Chloe laughed. "Wanna go get food with me? I noticed you didn't eat lunch. I promise it'll be something that's not too harsh on your stomach?"

Beca fought the gaze of the redhead and said instead, "A-Aren't you going to hang out with Aubrey and Stacie? That's what I figured you'd do before a performance, no?"

Chloe frowned. "They're busy doing _homework_. On a Friday afternoon, can you believe it? But I really don't want to spend the time before call time alone. Please join me in some food?" she pouted.

Suddenly, Beca couldn't resist. Looking into the soft blue eyes of the girl in front of her left her speechless, until she finally got ahold of herself.

"I mean, I guess it wouldn't be too bad, right?"

Chloe released her wrists, and Beca immediately missed the contact. The redhead jumped up and down in front of her and squealed excitedly.

"Thank you Becs! We'll have fun, promise! I'm going to go finish loading the trailer, and I assume you'll have to do the same! Don't even think about ditching me, Mitchell, I've got my eye on you." The over excited girl hugged Beca quickly and skipped towards the guard. By this time, Beca noticed the rest of the pit with their instruments ready to be loaded onto the trailer watching the whole exchange. Jesse and Amy looked at each other knowingly.

"Damn Beca, a date _already_? You work fast, girl." CR teased. Beca, if possible, felt her face go even redder.

"Careful, dude, you don't want to blow up before the date even starts!" Jesse laughed.

"Okay, we should stop teasing her. She looks like she's dying." Even Benji got in on the teasing. "Let's load the trailer."

Beca nodded gratefully at the curly haired boy and began instructing them on what to do, helping out when she could before being swatted away by the pit members who told her to rest and not get sicker. She smiled before she snuck a peek at the guard members.

Maybe this long day wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

After what felt like ages, the pit trailer was finally loaded. They closed the door, happy to be finished, and Beca saw Chloe standing off to the side, waiting patiently. She smiled to herself before making her way over to the redhead.

"So, where to, Red?" The girl's already wide smile turned into an outright beam, and Beca mentally high fiver herself for putting it there.

"We, mon cher, are going to an outdoor cafe!"

Beca quirked an eyebrow at the redhead at her use of french. "Are you taking French too, or are you just for some reason fluent in the language? Because that accent was pretty convincing, I'll have to say."

The other girl giggled. "That's for me to know, and for you to not know," she winked, then took hold of Beca's wrist once more and practically dragged her out of the school.

"So, how are we doing this?" Beca asked once they were in the parking lot. Chloe pursed her lips, tilting her head to the side and Beca internally "aww'd" at the redhead. She was like a puppy. A gorgeous, beautiful, breathtaking puppy….

 _Stop, you weirdo._ Beca thought to herself. She was startled out of her thoughts when the other girl quickly stood on her tiptoes before coming back down a couple times out of excitement.

"Okay, so I'll follow you in your car. You'll go home, get your uniform from your house and drop off your car in your driveway, and then we'll go to La Suite!"

Beca smirked at the girl's excitement, but found it incredibly endearing.

"Is this just your way of finding out where I live so you can ambush me at home now?"

Chloe pouted. "You've figured me out!"

Beca just laughed at the girl and nodded. "Okay then, my car is over here. I trust you to follow me very closely, Red."

* * *

The two situated themselves at a table that sat under a roof on a porch-like thing outside of the cafe. Chloe smiled warmly at Beca as she watched the small brunette take small sips of her coffee.

"So, Becs," - the other girl looked up at this - "tell me about yourself!"

The brunette smirked and said, "My name is Beca Marie Mitchell, I'm 5"2, my mom's name is Olivia-"

She stopped when she saw Chloe roll her eyes. " _Okay_ , but tell me about the real you! Everyone knows that you're a shortie Beca Mitchell, I wanna know the good stuff!"

Beca huffed at the short joke and eyed the other girl suspiciously. "Am I on a prank show and you're just gathering information to exploit me in a week or two?"

Chloe feigned hurt and put a hand over her chest. "You wound me, Marie," she paused. "Can I call you that?"

"Absolutely not!" Beca retorted. "I definitely do not want to go by my dead great-grandmother's name, thank you very much."

Chloe tilted her head back and laughed freely, and Beca wondered how such a simple gesture could make her heart flutter so much.

"Okay then, Becs! I'll tell you about myself instead, then."

Beca leaned in carefully to signify that she was about to listen to every word.

"I'm originally from Tampa, Florida. My family moved here because my dad got tired of the Floridian weather and wanted a change… too bad I guess he didn't research California too thoroughly! It's just as hot and humid here as it was over there," Chloe rolled her eyes. "I have two older brothers, Caden and Joseph. Caden is only one year older than me, he goes to UCLA on a football scholarship!" she says this part proudly. "Joseph is a doctor, he lives up north in San Francisco. He's married and has the cutest little daughter!"

Chloe's smile as she talked about her family was radiant, and Beca was totally immersed in watching the girl speak. However, she didn't know what to do when the girl's smile slipped off her face and was replaced was a deep frown.

"My mom died when I was 14. She got lung cancer from years of being surrounded by chemicals. She was a biochemist," the redhead said sadly. "She was the most amazing human being I've ever known." she looks up at the sky somberly. "And I really hope she's proud of me."

Chloe sniffled and looked down from the sky when she felt a weight on her hands. She saw the small brunette sitting across from her with the softest expression she's ever seen on the girl, whose hands were on top of hers comfortingly.

"Chloe Beale, I am sure your mom is _beyond_ proud of you. You're the smartest, nicest, and most _beautiful_ girl at Barden. And you, my friend, are a kick ass captain of the Barden High School Colorguard, and I believe that it was made to be so great because of your hard work and your dedication."

The frown that was on Chloe's face melted into a soft smile as she tried to discreetly wipe a tear from her eye.

"Thank you, Beca."

The two sat in silence for awhile, neither of them moving much except to take small sips of their coffee.

"My parents are divorced." Beca eventually said, after she figured the silence had been too much. Chloe looked at her curiously.

"I thought they were the happiest couple in the whole entire world." she smiled, and Chloe could see the bittersweet emotion behind it. "Turns out, I was wrong. My mom came home one day after a long shift at the office and walked into the bedroom to see my dad with another woman. I came home from a friend's house to a screaming match between the two."

Beca paused, not liking to remember the downfall of her parents' marriage. She felt a hand on hers, and just like she had done previously, Chloe comforted her through touch. This gave her the courage to continue.

"That night, my dad stormed out of the house. And I haven't seen him since."

She took a deep breath, and released it, shuddering.

"I want to hate him… but he's my dad. I love him. I just want him to…" she felt a tear slide down her cheek. "I just want him to call me, to say _Happy birthday, Beca!_ or hear him ask me how I'm doing, _anything_. But everyday, I get nothing."

Chloe reached over and used the pad of her thumb to remove the tear that had slid down her cheek away. Beca looked into the other girl's eyes and chuckled sardonically.

"Sorry. I hope I didn't scare you away. I didn't mean to get so depressing."

Chloe smiled softly at her. "You would never, Beca. I really appreciate that you trusted me enough to tell me that story."

The two looked into each other's eyes. Beca saw the other girl's eyes drift down to her lips before coming back to meet her eyes. They could both feel themselves leaning in, closer to each other, and Beca closed her eyes.

 _Is this really happening?_

Someone's phone went off, and the two jerked back, away from each other. Beca blushed furiously, as Chloe fumbled for her phone.

"Hello?" she answered, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Chloe, are you almost here? We kind of need our captain…"

The redhead looked at the time and yelped.

"Oh, _SHIT!_ " she quickly hung up after hurriedly saying "I'll be there soon!" and gathered her things. "Becs, we gotta go! Call time is in 5 minutes!"

Chloe all but sprinted back to her car, Beca following, laughing. Both of them wanted to talk about what had just happened, but the nervous energy that came from the anticipation of performing in a couple hours trumped that. They smiled at each other nervously, but neither felt uncomfortable. They drove in silence, both sneaking glances at each other.

Once again, Beca was in a daze. And once again, she thought:

 _Is this really happening?_

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 **BellaWrites: Thank you for the kind words! I hope this story lives up to your expectations! The story will hopefully progress in the way you like. :)**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey there! Sorry about the somewhat late update, school has been killer. I've been trying to catch up with my online class, which I've totally neglected this semester. Hope you enjoy this chapter! The rest of the guard members will be introduced eventually, promise! But for now, you get to interact with some Aubrey and Stacie.**

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They made it to the stadium in record time. They both ran out the car with their uniforms in their hands. Chloe hurriedly said "Bye, Becs!" and got a frantic wave in return as they split up and met with their sections.

Beca approached the pit with a sheepish look on her face and said, "Sorry for being late, guys. Thank you for unloading the trailer."

Jesse took one look at Beca's flushed face and threw his head back in laughter.

"No problem cap, we're just glad you're here!" he winked at her and Beca rolled her eyes in response as she hung up her uniform on the fence.

"I'm going to go change, I'll be right back. Can you guys please set everything up? Make sure the electronics are plugged in and the generator is going."

"Aye aye, cap'n," Amy called after her.

Beca entered the bathroom with her clothes in hand. She stripped quickly, replacing her joggers with a pair of basketball shorts so that her bibbers weren't lumpy, and replaced her baseball tee with their band shirt. She exited the stall in time to see the entire guard file in to do their makeup. She gave them all a small nod before exiting, seeing Chloe in the very back. They smiled at each other and Chloe gave Beca a wink as the brunette left the bathroom.

 _I must be going crazy. There is no way that_ the _Chloe Beale likes me._

She shook her head. _Damn it. It's senior year, Beca! There's no time to have a crush on the prettiest girl in band!_

She pulled herself together and made her way back to the trailers, where she deposited her backpack with her clothes inside and opened her garment back that held her uniform in it. She quickly pulled on the black bibbers and took out her jacket. She folded it carefully and set it on top of Aleksandr, her marimba.

The first hour of their warm up was spent apart from the band. The hornline, which consisted of the brass instruments and woodwind instruments, claimed their spot by one of the baseball fields, where Beca could hear them tuning and warming up their lips. The drumline was further away, since their instruments were the loudest. Guard was right behind the pit. Unfortunately for Beca, she couldn't gawk at Chloe because she was facing away from the guard. Not that she was going to gawk anyway. Totally.

They quickly warmed up and ran chunks of the show after playing the standard scales a couple of times to make sure their wrists were ready to play. An hour later, the game was about to start. The hornline and drumline gathered together to play their pregame show, which consisted of the national anthem and some pep tunes to get the student section hyped for the match. Because this was a home game, the stands were packed full of students.

The pit ceased their practicing as they gathered around the fence to watch the pregame magic happen. It was a tradition of theirs to cheer on the band, because although they didn't play with them during the pregame, it was still respectful of them to cheer them on. After pregame, the hornline and drumline made their way up to the stands to continue playing pep tunes as the game progressed, and the pit took a small break.

Beca took this time to sit on the trailer door that was propped open on the floor to try and nonchalantly watch the guard rehearse.

"You are so obvious." Jesse said from behind her, and she quickly turned her body so her back was now facing the guard.

"Shut up!" she smacked the boy on the arm.

"No, seriously, I've never seen you so infatuated with someone before," the boy laughed, giving her goo-goo eyes. The rest of the pit joined them on the ramp, and she sighed.

"Deets, Beca! What'd you guys do?" CR asked curiously. Beca was then bombarded with questions, and she held up her hands in surrender.

"We didn't do anything. We just went to an outdoor cafe and hung out. It was very relaxing."

"So relaxing you were late?" Amy wiggled her eyebrows at the brunette. "I get you, Shawshank. I see right through you."

"Shut up, guys," Beca huffed. "Let's go rehearse some more before the band joins us."

A collective groan from the pit was heard, and she chuckled to herself.

Soon enough, the band joined them for a full ensemble run through. Nerves ran through Beca as half-time came nearer and nearer. Ten minutes before half-time, Mrs. Hill finally clapped her hands together and said, "It's time. Hope you're all ready!"

The pit unplugged from the soundboard and situated themselves to get ready to push out towards the football field as the band already made their way out. A whistle blew, and soon enough the football players hustled their way "backstage", and Beca heard Amy mutter, "I'd love to get a piece of that pie," as the Tasmanian eyed the varsity team.

Beca rolled her eyes and instructed the pit to roll out. The guard went the same time as they did, and Chloe mouthed, "Good luck!" at the pit - mainly Beca, of course.

Aubrey, who was the pseudo co-captain of the Barden colorguard, raised an eyebrow at Chloe and then shot a scathing look towards Beca, who smirked in reply. She nodded a thanks to Chloe, and suddenly it really was time.

The cheerleaders finished their routine on the field, and the band was promptly instructed to take the field. The nervous energy that ran through Beca pulsed through her arms and in her wrists. They set up hurriedly as they heard cheers from the stands. Surprisingly at Barden, the marching band was very popular. It definitely helped that they were good, of course.

Finally, the stands quieted the best they would. Jane faced the crowd and did her drum major salute, and the student section erupted with cheers before they silenced themselves again. Jane turned back around on her podium and faced the band. She gave them a wink before she began conducting.

Their field show this year, entitled _The Puppet Master_ , started off with an eerie bass chord from the synthesizers in the pit. Following that was a flute solo, and Beca tensed, knowing their cue to enter the music was coming. The slowness of the flute solo eventually came to a stop, and she brought her mallets up and began playing as the tempo of the show drastically increased.

The syncopations of the beat hurt her wrists, but she shoved away the pain and continued playing. The burning energy of a performance made her forget everything - all that mattered was that moment in time.

The band reached the climax of their show, and it slowed down dramatically as the woodwind section had their feature. After their feature, the brass came back in for a final supporting chord, before the moment Beca had been waiting for finally came, the drum break.

The rhythm, which was crazy fast and strenuous, left Beca's hands working overtime as she kept up with the pace of the music. The drum break ended, and the band finished out the opening number of their performance with a boom. Their second number, their ballad, was only half complete so they ceased their show there. Beca looked up towards the box where the announcers were, where the judges would be at an actual competition. Adrenaline raced through her veins as she heard the roar of applause from the stands. Jane lowered her arms and faced the crowd. She gave a deep bow, which was the pit's cue to disassemble and get off the field as fast as possible. The football game was back in motion.

After they were settled off the field, the band circled together to have a meeting. The pit got there last, as did the guard, which meant they were together at the back of the band. Jesse smirked before shoving Beca towards the guard. The brunette promptly glared at the boy before catching Chloe's eye, who winked and sent her a thumbs up with her left hand, as her right arm was full of guard equipment.

"Good job, guys!" Mrs. Hill said. "There's still a lot of work to be done. Your marching isn't too fluid yet, and pit, try to be more in sync with your pulsing! Music wise, though, you guys did great. Guard, excellent job. You guys never disappoint."

Beca nodded when she heard the comment about pulsing, which was the body movement the pit did in time with the beat of the music. Mrs. Hill wasn't wrong, sometimes her body would be moving down as Jesse's was moving up, which made them look strange. She'd work on that with the pit next rehearsal. She sent a small smile towards the guard when she heard the compliment and nodded in agreement, even though she had never seen the guard perform behind her, since the pit faced the front.

The band then dispersed; the hornline and drumline prepared themselves to go back into the stands for pep tunes, whilst the pit and guard began packing their equipment back into the trailers and left.

"Hey guys, are we still on for celebratory dinner?" Amy called questioningly. It was a pit tradition to go to a nearby diner after every football game to bond as a section.

"Hell yeah, dude." Beca replied, earning a whoop from Amy and a cheer from Jesse. "Let's get this trailer loaded!" she added. She coughed, feeling the effects of the medicine she had taken earlier fading quickly. She contemplated taking another ibuprofen, but decided she had taken enough for the day and decided against it.

"You good to go, Bec?" Jesse asked, concerned. "You still sound like death."

"It's a Friday dude, wouldn't miss it even for death. And I have the weekend to recover!" Beca reassured him. Jesse nodded, but he didn't look convinced. They quickly go the trailer loaded, and soon they were ready to go.

"Alright nerds, who's going in my car and who's going in Jesse's?" Beca questioned. "Benji, Lily, and Denise are coming with me." Jesse reported. The three that were named nodded and murmured a quick "Thanks" to the boy. Beca nodded appreciatively and met up with Amy and CR as they gathered their things.

As they walked towards the exit, they stopped upon hearing a voice calling.

"Beca!"

The three girls turned to see Chloe, along with some of her guard girls. "Are you going home?" The redhead questioned.

"No, we're going to a nearby diner. It's sort of a tradition of ours." Beca replied.

Chloe's eyes lit up. "Are you talking about Shelly's?" Upon getting a nod from the shorter girl, she let out a happy squeal. "We're going there too! Mind if we join you?"

Upon getting a quirked eyebrow from Beca, Chloe turned to her guard.

"Okay guys, this is Aubrey and Stacie!"

Beca took a step forward, shrugging when she got a questioning look from Amy and CR. "Might as well, right?" she murmured. She stretch out a hand towards the girls. Stacie winked at her before taking her hand.

"Nice to meet you, shortie!" Beca rolled her eyes at the short joke, but smiled anyways. She extended her hand towards Aubrey, whose eyes were a bit colder than the tall brunette's. "Pleasure." Chloe clapped her hands excitedly.

"So, we'll meet you there?"

"I guess so, Beale." Beca smirked. "By the way, this is Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose." she said, gesturing to her two friends. "I'll acquaint you to the rest of my nerdy section when we get to Shelly's."

Aubrey quirked an eyebrow. "You call your _friend_ fat?"

"Oh no, blondie," Amy retorted. Aubrey snorted at the use of the nickname, considering Amy herself was also blonde. "I call myself that."

"Why?" Stacie questioned.

"It's so twig bitches like you don't do it behind my back."

Aubrey's eyes stretched comically, while Stacie threw her head back and let out a boisterous laugh. "I like you, Amy."

The Australian grinned at this, and the group merged together and talked excitedly amongst each other as they made their way towards their separate cars.

"You did great tonight!" Chloe said to Beca, as the two rounded out the group at the rear. Beca smiled. "Thanks. I bet you did amazing too, despite me not being able to see you." At this, Chloe immediately frowned.

"I dropped my sabre toss. Not very amazing."

"Hey." Beca nudged the other girl. "I hit the wrong note many times, and my technique wasn't perfect. Even so, you said I did great, right?" the other girl nodded. "Just because you drop once, doesn't take away from the fact that you caught every other toss. Which is why you did amazing, I'm sure."

The redhead's frown quickly melted away, and she beamed at Beca. "Thank you, Becs." she gave her a quick one-armed hug. The group made a stop at Chloe's car, who made promises to wait for them to arrive before entering the diner. The trio quickly made their way into Beca's own vehicle, but not after CR and Amy had a scuffle of who would sit shotgun.

"They're not as bad as I thought they would be." Amy commented from the back, as she had lost their game of rock paper scissors. CR nodded. "They're pretty cool. Stacie especially."

"Oh yes, her _personalities_ are very cool." Amy laughed, winking. Beca just smiled.

"Yeah, they really are something, aren't they?"


End file.
